Hi everyone!!! I didn't step on the scale this morning...oops. Will do it when I get home. But just wanted to say good morning to you all! Still not back on my diet, or exercise regime. But worked in the yard for 12 hours on Saturday and 14 on Sunday. Yes, we finished at 10pm on Sunday...had the spotlights out and everything! I figure pushing a wheelbarrow full of concrete for two hours should be better calorie burning than anything else I could do!! Will weigh tonight :) Skinny (goal-jeans) are still able to be zipped and buttoned but are not comfortable. Still want to target my hips/thighs area. But, all other clothes are fitting great, which I feel is the real testimony to weight loss rather than the actual poundage. Also, many are recognizing my weight loss. And they want to know my secret... LOL! 1. Eat fewer calories (not less food!!!) 2. Burn more calories Of course, it can't be that simple, but it is. One of my office mates started her low-carb diet at the same time, but does not exercise very much, and deprives herself of food so is hungry and binges. Also, does not count calories... hmmm... six months later, she's still the same weight. She offered me her low-carb cookbook, but with recipes in there that call for six tablespoons of butter I declined. :)

Correlation does not equal causation. The researcher in the study (Dr. Dodd) never stated that hypothyroidism was a cause of seizures, only that there was a correlation. I'll wager that the dogs in the study had teeth, so does having teeth cause seizures? Of course not. The dogs in the study were selected for abnormal behavior (aggression, fearful, seizures, hyperactive). Of the 634 dogs in the study, 189 (30%) had seizure disorder. Of them, 77% had thyroid dysfunction, but the study does not state what the thyroid dysfunction was. Dogs can be hypothyroid (most commonly due to autoimmune thyroiditis), hyperthyroid (rare, most likely due to thyroid carcinoma), or euthyroid sick due to any other disease. The study does not say if ANY of the dogs were worked up for any other diseases besides thyroid dysfunction. It is very possible that some dogs had more than one disease, but this is not mentioned in the study. Of all the seizure dogs, it was mentioned that only 2 were supplemented. These dogs were just past puberty, which is the typical age to have a single seizure (as my own Anastasia did). Therefore the seizures may have stopped on their own. The thyroid supplementation was never discontinued to see if seizures returned, so I don't see how anyone could conclude that the thyroid supplement cured the seizures. There have been no cause and effect studies for hypothyroidism and seizures that I could find. It wouldn't be too hard to cause hypothyroidism in dogs and see how many develop seizures. I searched for hypothyroidism-induced seizures in other species including humans and found nothing, which is odd. Usually a disease causes similar symptoms across species, but not always. I believe that in cases of sudden hypothyroidism that seizures can happen. I don't think it is that common, but it happens. The study DOES suggest full thyroid testing for any dog with aberrent behavior, which I 100% agree with. I also still agree with testing for hypothyroidism in seizure cases, because you may get lucky. Phenobarbital lowers T4 level, so if any of the seizure dogs in the study were already on phenobarb, it is possible that they were hypothyroid because of that medication. I do not think this was known at the time the study was done. The study doesn't say anything about the seizure dogs being treated in any way. Another reason to test thyroid function for seizuring dogs prior to phenobarb is because of this phenomenon. It is sometimes difficult to decide if patient was hypothyroid prior to starting phenobarb or not. Knowing beforehand clears up any potential confusion once phenobarb has been started, sort of. Another study showed that euthyroid sick syndrome may be CAUSED BY epilepsy. Yet another study proved that phenobarb cause hypothyoidism in some dogs. I never said that hypothyroidism does not cause seizures, only that it is rare. I am well aware of the previous situation here where a regular poster saved the life of a seizuring dog by suggesting hypothyroidism as a cause. It is the one and only case I have ever heard of. In an older dog the odds are that the cause of seizures are intracranial, not hypothyroidism, especially in light of no clin path abnormalities suggestive of hypothyroidism. Supplementing while waiting for a thyroid panel wouldn't be harmful and if it helps, great- I'd do it myself in this situation. I would also be realistic with the owner and tell them that hypothyroidism isn't the most likely cause of this dogs seizures, that in dogs that present this way the cause is usually intracranial and more difficult to treat, and I would recommend further diagnostic to find out exactly what is going on in order to get a prognosis. Here is a link that might be useful: The oft-misunderstood Tufts study

Well, I had a name (shh. cannot say it) I just recently had to change it Pattifer - because I was being stalked online by someone. The person is Googling my email which is also my user name in a lot of places. I know that what you do and say on the internet is not all that private, but its what this person is doing with the stuff she harvests that is - pretty sophmoric - makes you feel creepy like someone eavesdropping in on your conversations. You know the kind of person who stands and listens in to conversations you are having with someone else at a party. Icky. So in order to regain some privacy ... changed my name and email. Pattifer - Patty is my cat and "fer" is because my husband says she's got some of the devil in her. Get it? Lucifer - Pattifer. Not too original. MP

I was diagnosed with pmr two years ago but had two bouts of it before I saw a Doctor thinking I was just sick some kind of a bug, and hate going to the Dr. Mine came on with flu like symptoms, fever chills then extreme joint body pain. It was bad then but the third time I couldn't move. I could not even reach my face to take off my glasses. Had to be helped up and down when sitting in a chair. Forget anything else like getting dressed or undressed. Couldn't brush my teeth. Just looked at my last refill for prednesone and it was for 30 mg. I had been on 100 mg.for 8 days..then 60 for a month...down to thirty for a month when they said it was time to wean me off so I was to take 20mg then 10. I stopped on my own as he said he wouldnt up the dose again after 20 mgs gave me no relief whatsoever. I loved relief that it gave but the side effects were horrible. For the first time in 20 years I had a decent sleep at night and felt real in the day time. I had totally forgot how to live without constant pain. I could not stop wanting to eat for the life of me. It was like air hunger when you cannot catch your breath, I had a constant gnawing inside me. I was told that many patients had the same, one woman told the dr she was going to rent her husband out if people would pay in food. She couldn't afford to keep him. I watched my diet and calorie intake like a hawk but still gained weight ...a lot of weight. It has taken almost a year to get off 25 lbs. I had the "moon face" too and lost my eyebrows and a lot of hair, thank goodness it is thick and it wasn't obvious to many. I am diabetic, and have thyroid problems and fibromyalgia so I think the medications do not all go well with each other. My daughter was diagnosed with the same within weeks of me. Different doctors, and different symptoms she actually lost weight, she has thyroid problems but not a diabetic.